One on one tips

[Marty]

I've only just started playing poker with an already established group of players. Two games in with very little experience and i've finished second in both.

I seem to have a handle on the basics and have felt confident throughout both games until it came down to one on one. I don't know if it was my imagination, but all the good cards seemed to just disappear. My play became tight and clumsy and despite having chip advantage in both games going into the head to head I ended up blowing it completely.

Basically i'm looking for some tips to help me close out a game.

[crack]

Aggression Aggression Aggression.

You are going to have to losen up and if you wait for good hands your stack will diminish quickly. Chances are he is gettingjust as bad hands, and when you both see the flop, chances are he missed to.

The key to HU is aggression.

[mindgame]

So you're basically saying he should step it up a little bit. Maybe be more aggressive?

[crack]

Nah I think he should just fold till he has AA/KK/QQ/AK and then just push and take down the blinds.

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Heads up, the average hand is about Q7.

Depending on stack sizes, you may want to limp with a lot of hands, or just call with a lot of hands. If stacks are small compared to the blinds, I'd recommend mostly raising. If they're big, I'd limp a lot more. Although, if your opponent is very weak after the flop, you can adjust your strategy to this.

On the button, I'd recommend raising with all of the following hands:
All pairs, Ax, Kx, QJs-Q7s, QJ-Q9, JTs-J8s, JT, J9, T9s, T8s, T9, and perhaps T8 and 98 (suited or not).

Also, on the button, assuming your opponent is not the sort of guy who raises out of the big blind an inordinate amount of the time, you can limp in with almost any hand, since the pot is laying you immediate 3-to-1 odds, and no hand is worse than a 3-to-1 dog against a random hand. If your opponent is very aggressive, you may want to fold the worst 25% or so of hands from the SB/button.

From the big blind, if your opponent limps in, you have to be somewhat more conservative with your raises since you will out of position the rest of the hand. I like to raise against a limp with the following hands:
All pairs, Ax, Kxs, KQ-K8, QJ-Q9, and JT, and occasionally J9s as well

If your opponent raises, you must play even tighter (assuming he isn't a maniac) before the flop. Ideally you'd like two cards above 9, suited connectors, a pair, or an ace. However, if your opponent is a bad post-flop player, you can come in with perhaps as little as all no-gap suited connectors down to 54s, all pairs, all aces and kings, and any two cards above 7.

Remember that most hands are contests of unpaired hole cards, and that unpaired cards make a pair on the flop only 32% of the time. Top pair is very strong in heads up, so the game plays much better as a contest between high cards, especially when blinds are high.

Also, if you raised before the flop, you MUST continue with a follow-up bet on the flop. Aggression is the key, as others noted.